Shirley Lee Johnson (Day)

Shirley Lee Johnson, 78, Raymore, MO, formerly of Independence, passed away Nov. 7, 2014. Services will be 10 am, Thursday, Nov. 13 at Speaks Suburban Chapel, 18020 E. 39th St., Independence, MO 64055; interment at Mound Grove Cemetery. Visitation will begin at 9 am before the service at the chapel. The family requests contributions to the Alzheimer’s Assoc., 3846 W 75th St, Prairie Village, KS 66208. Shirley was born Aug. 9, 1936 in Ft. Scott, KS. She moved to Independence, MO when she was seven yrs. old and graduated from William Chrisman High School in 1954. After graduating from Kansas City Business College she went to work for IBM. She met Jack Johnson in high school and they married Oct. 5, 1957. In 1963, she left IBM to become a mother to daughter Deanna Lin. She volunteered at Deanna’s school and was a Bluebird and Campfire Girls leader for several years. She designed and crafted Christmas ornaments and sold them at Greenwillow Farm Antiques. This led to her working as a merchandise processor at Greenwillow for twelve years. She retired in 2000 to concentrate on gardening and created a showplace garden which welcomed over two-thousand visitors between 2003 and 2006. She was a member of the Kansas City Watergarden Society and the Independence Garden Club. Shirley is survived by her husband of fifty-seven years Jack Johnson; daughter Deanna Lin Carlson and husband Curt; granddaughters Cassie and Alyssa Carlson; grandson Joshua Carlson and great-granddaughter Tessa Ann Lee.